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Zinc and Lead climb, Copper Gains for Fourth Day in Asia, Trades Near 15-Month High

By Glenys Sim

Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Copper reversed losses in Asia, climbing for a fourth day to trade near a 15-month high on speculation Chilean supplies, the world’s largest, may be disrupted as workers voted to go on strike.

The metal used in construction and automobiles rose 2.9 percent yesterday, the most since Nov. 16, after workers at Codelco’s Chuquicamata mine, the world’s second-biggest, said they may strike on Dec. 31. This follows a strike which began Dec. 28 by workers at Xstrata Plc’s Altonorte copper smelter.

“Strikes always raise the possibility of supplies being disrupted and given the fine balance of the copper market, it gives traders a reason to push prices up,” said Ding Yujie, Shenzhen-based analyst at Nanhua Futures Co.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.3 percent to $7,300 a metric ton at 11:26 a.m. in Singapore, after falling as much as 0.5 percent earlier. It climbed to $7,307 a ton yesterday, the highest price since Sept. 22, 2008.

March-delivery copper on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was 0.4 percent higher at $3.3250 a pound, while April-delivery copper on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 0.5 percent to 58,900 yuan ($8,626) a ton.

Copper has more than doubled this year, poised for a record annual increase, as governments ramped up stimulus spending to lift their economies out of recession, spurring raw material demand. It also rallied as the dollar slid 4 percent against a basket of six currencies, including the euro and yen.

“The metals have had a very good run this year and the outlook for better demand next year remains unchanged,” said Ding.

Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum rose 0.2 percent to $2,278 a ton, zinc gained 1.8 percent to $2,593 a ton, and lead gained 0.2 percent to $2,455 a ton. Nickel was unchanged at $19,200 a ton, while tin dropped 0.2 percent to $16,700 a ton.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRYcRxcW26OM